Nov 1st, 2012

This 12.04 carat pink diamond sold by auction in May 2012 for US $17 million, “the largest round fancy intense pink diamond to ever go under the hammer”, according to Christie’s.

The 12-carat gem got its name in 1976 when it was sold by US jeweller Harry Winston. It was the same year the US sent a satellite to Mars, and the gem was named for the colour of the planet.

“It comes from Harry Winston, who was so impressed that the Americans had landed on Mars in 1976 that he looked at his inventory and he found a rough diamond which probably could come out as pink,” said Francois Curiel, from Christie’s jewellery department.

“So he had it cut in such a way that the intensity of the thing was larger than any of the other things that he had ever cut before.”